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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30075000">Middle Child {Rewrite}</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SummerStormFlower/pseuds/SummerStormFlower'>SummerStormFlower</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Broken Bones, Brotherly Fluff, Brotherly Love, Bullying, Dewey Duck Needs a Hug, Dewey has a couple issues, Dewey has some bad habits, Fights, Gen, Protective Dewey Duck, Protective Louie Duck, Self-Esteem Issues</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 19:21:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,446</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30075000</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/SummerStormFlower/pseuds/SummerStormFlower</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Dewey doesn't always feel appreciated, but he always looks out for his brothers no matter what. And as it turns out, they do appreciate him a lot more than he thinks.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dewey Duck &amp; Huey Duck &amp; Louie Duck</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>67</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Middle Child {Rewrite}</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Dewey’s always had a little habit of getting carried away. That’s what Huey says, at least. <em>You push your body until it can’t take it anymore, then you keep pushing! And then you get hurt because of your stupidity! </em>Yeah, they’ve argued a lot about his habits before. Dewey can’t deny that he goes too far sometimes, but he thinks Huey has the same problem; eyeing the JWG his red brother always has on him. Huey bases too much of his worth on that book, if you ask Dewey. <em>Well, you stuff your mind until it’s full, and then you keep on stuffing! You can try all you want, but you’ll never be perfect!</em></p><p> </p><p>Huey’s a hypocrite. But he’s not wrong.</p><p> </p><p>Once Dewey decided to see how long he could go without drinking anything. Another time, he wanted to find out how many bones in his body he could break. A different time, he wanted to see how long he could go without sleep. And that’s not even half of all the extremes Dewey’s gone to.</p><p> </p><p>He knows it’s not healthy. Huey tells him that everyday. <em>You’re going to kill yourself one day if you keep doing this! </em>But Dewey doesn’t want to hear that from him. <em>The expectations you set for yourself are going </em><em>to break you!</em></p><p> </p><p>Besides, Dewey doesn’t think he could stop even if he wanted to.</p><p> </p><p>When he gets hurt, he gets attention. He gets care, love, validation. So he gets hurt. It’s worth it.</p><p> </p><p>Dewey listens to his emotions. If something makes him happy, he keeps doing it. He gives in easily to anything that makes him sad. When he gets angry, it consumes him until it eats away the last bit of his energy. That only happens when he’s really angry though.</p><p> </p><p>He’s always a little angry because Uncle Donald’s often too busy to listen to him, and Huey often won’t help him with his homework, and Louie always goes to Huey to talk—most days, Dewey thinks Louie doesn’t even like him. But Dewey can’t ever find it in himself to be too upset at his family. He loves them and he knows they love him too, even if sometimes they don’t like him very much. Even if they don’t like him most of the time.</p><p> </p><p>When some jerk at school hits his little brother, that’s a consuming sort of anger; that’s red, and blaring, and hot.</p><p> </p><p>Huey’s at Louie’s side—whose hand is over his right eye—in less than a second. And Dewey lunges at the jerk, whatever his name is.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The teachers had to physically force him off of What’s-His-Name. That’s the kind of thing anger did to Dewey. Huey may not be the only triplet who inherited some of Uncle Donald’s temper.</p><p> </p><p>Not only was he suspended, but he’d broken both of his hands. It hurt. A lot.</p><p> </p><p>Dewey adores the attention and care Uncle Donald gives him now, but he doesn’t particularly enjoy being fed, or having his teeth brushed for him, or needing assistance when he has to go to bathroom.</p><p> </p><p>At night, he usually ends up accidentally smacking one of his hands against the wall, which hurts so bad. Enough to make him wake up and burst into tears. Huey crawls into bed with him and holds him until the pain goes away. They eventually solve this problem by putting pillows against the wall.</p><p> </p><p>Louie is okay. His eye is just black and blue. Sometimes he bumps into things, which infuriates him to no end. Dewey can’t help but grin a little every time it happens.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey,” Huey says one day while they’re chilling in their room. He sets aside his guidebook and sits up. “Do you think Patrick will want revenge on Dewey?” he asks.</p><p> </p><p>Dewey frowns. “Who?”</p><p> </p><p>“The guy you beat up,” Louie answers, not looking up from his phone.</p><p> </p><p>Oh, so that’s his name.</p><p> </p><p>“What if he goes after you?” Huey asks nervously.</p><p> </p><p>Dewey hadn’t thought about that.</p><p> </p><p>“He won’t,” Louie says.</p><p> </p><p>Dewey blinks. “How do you know?”</p><p> </p><p>Louie doesn’t look at him, but he smirks. “Everybody’s got dirt,” is all he says. But he doesn’t need to elaborate, Huey and Dewey already understand what he means by that.</p><p> </p><p>“You...” Dewey can’t help but stammer.</p><p> </p><p>Louie’s eyebrows wrinkle. “He was making fun of you, so I stole his lunch and threw it away. That was why he punched me.”</p><p> </p><p>Now Dewey’s really shocked. “You weren’t being bullied? You were standing up for me?”</p><p> </p><p>Louie pauses at the disbelief in Dewey’s tone. He puts his phone down and looks at him. “Yeah. I stand up for you, like, all the time.”</p><p> </p><p>“You do?”</p><p> </p><p>Louie blinks at him incredulously. “Of course I do!” he exclaims like it’s obvious.</p><p> </p><p>Dewey doesn’t think it’s obvious. “But I thought you didn’t like me.”</p><p> </p><p>Louie’s eyes widen.</p><p> </p><p>“Whoa, what?” Huey says, a mixture of surprise and confusion at what Dewey has just said.</p><p> </p><p>Dewey shrinks back a little.</p><p> </p><p>Louie stares at him for a solid minute. “I like you,” he breathes. “Why would you think that I don’t?”</p><p> </p><p>Huey stays quiet, sensing this is something between them and wanting to stay out of it.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, you don’t act like it,” Dewey says.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re my brother. Of course I don’t act like it!” Louie proclaims.</p><p> </p><p>“You don’t even come to me for anything! You always go to Huey!”</p><p> </p><p>“Because you worry me!”</p><p> </p><p>Dewey freezes. “What?”</p><p> </p><p>Louie crosses his arms at him. “You do stupid stuff all the time! Huey and I have been talking about telling Uncle Donald how your <em>accidents</em> aren’t so accidental.”</p><p> </p><p>Dewey snaps his eyes to Huey. “You have?”</p><p> </p><p>Huey nods.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh.” Dewey bites his lip. “Okay look, I’m sorry. But please don’t tell Uncle Donald.” He doesn’t know what he’d do if Uncle Donald knew. He has no idea how Donald would even react. Mad? Disappointed?</p><p> </p><p>“Actually,” Huey begins softly, “I think you should tell him.”</p><p> </p><p>Dewey glares at Huey. “No!”</p><p> </p><p>“Dew—”</p><p> </p><p>Louie suddenly raises a hand to silence Huey. “Why do you hurt yourself, Dewey?” he then asks.</p><p> </p><p>Dewey slumps, wishing he could just disappear into himself. “It’s...” He doesn’t look at either of them. “It’s the only way to get any attention around here...”</p><p> </p><p>“You deliberately get yourself hurt for attention?! You’ve gotta be kidding me!” Huey exclaims frustratedly.</p><p> </p><p>Before Dewey can feel guilty, Louie whacks Huey’s shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>“Shut up, Hugh!” he hisses.</p><p> </p><p>Huey gives him a very offended look, but Louie ignored him, turning back to his other brother. “Why would you think that’s the only way for you to get attention?” he asks.</p><p> </p><p>Dewey scoffs, “Because it is. Nobody cares about me unless I’m hurt.”</p><p> </p><p>Huey looks horrified at that. “We care about you, Dewey. No matter what state you’re in.”</p><p> </p><p>“Then why don’t you show it? Or say it!” Dewey glares at Huey.</p><p> </p><p>Huey sags guiltily, rubbing at his arm. “I thought I didn’t have to,” he says.</p><p> </p><p>Dewey turns away, pulling his knees up to his chest. “Well, how am I supposed to know then?”</p><p> </p><p>“...You’re right,” Huey murmurs after a moment. He gets up and goes to sit next to Dewey, putting a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry.”</p><p> </p><p>Dewey lifts his chin. Honestly shimmers in Huey’s eyes. He feels his anger melt away. “I just... I just want you to help me with my homework,” he says.</p><p> </p><p>Huey nods. “Okay.” Then he hugs him. “I love you, Dewey.”</p><p> </p><p>Dewey hugs Huey back tightly. He can’t remember the last time they actually hugged. He can’t remember the last time Huey said that to him.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m also sorry, Dewey,” Louie speaks up, plopping down by his other side. “From now on, when I have a problem I’ll go to both of you. That okay?”</p><p> </p><p>Dewey nods against Huey, then grabs at Louie and swiftly pulls him into their hug.</p><p> </p><p>Louie reciprocates. “And I love you too, ya big doofus.”</p><p> </p><p>Dewey smiles, his heart happier than it’s been in a long time. Guess he doesn’t need to break any of his bones or dehydrate himself for attention, after all. This kind of care feels way better than the kind he got through injuring, or making himself sick; worried concern, sprinkled with thoughtfulness and love, but still worried concern.</p><p> </p><p>Dewey’s sure there will still be times he gets a little overlooked. But Huey’s going to help him with his homework now and Louie’s going to come to him with his problems now. They love him. They like him.</p><p> </p><p>Being in the middle isn’t that bad. Because being in the middle means two people beside you, two pairs of arms embracing you. In fact, it’s even kinda nice sometimes.</p>
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